


T’es beau comme les étoiles.

by Gay5sos



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Français | French, French!Ashton, French-Speaking Ashton, Lashton - Freeform, M/M, Youtuber AU, Youtuber!Luke, i am actual trash, this is disgustingly domestic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-31
Updated: 2014-07-31
Packaged: 2018-02-11 05:26:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2055360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gay5sos/pseuds/Gay5sos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke is a youtuber, and Ashton is his roommate. Luke has a thing for Ashton speaking french, which is a good thing because Ashton is from France.</p>
            </blockquote>





	T’es beau comme les étoiles.

**Author's Note:**

> this is all down to my obsession with the french language, but also Clint percussionist24601, for the idea! this took like 9 years to complete, so I hope you enjoy it! (Also, if something isn't translated in the text, for some reason, there will be a glossary at the end.) Xx

"Ashton! C'mere for a sec!"

Ashton hopped up from the couch, setting down his bowl of Frosties, and shuffled into Luke's room, still in his pyjamas.

"So the viewers didn't know you were French and they wanted to hear you say something." Luke beamed.

He was sitting in front of his fancy-pants camera, shooting a youtube video. At 10 in the morning. Ashton shouldn't have been awake this early, but it was hard not to wake up with the sound of Luke babbling to no one in the next room about his week, and how to survive high school or something like that.

Ashton did, however, have a soft spot for his Australian roommate, so he trudged over to the bed and sat down beside Luke.

"Are you sure it's the followers who want me to talk in french, and not you?" he deadpanned. He was not a morning person.

"C'mooon Ashy, just say something. Anything." the younger boy begged, and Ashton sighed.

" _Tu es vraiment un idio_ t." You really are an idiot.

Of course he didn't really think Luke was an idiot, he was actually quite fond of the boy, he just enjoyed saying whatever he wanted in a language Luke couldn't understand, from time to time.

"Hey, I can understand the word idiot." Luke pouted. He felt a little bad, then.

" _Je suis désolé, Lukey._ " he imitated Luke's pout and patted him on the head. I'm sorry, Lukey. " _Je ne pense pas ça_." I don't think that.

Luke broke out into a smile again, and turned back to the camera.

"I can't understand him because I'm an uncultured swine, but I like the accent so I make him talk to me in french all the time."

"You make me sound so whipped!" Ashton protested, and then turned to the camera. "I do it because I want to."

Luke laughed, and scooted forward to turn the camera off.

"I'll film the ending later." he announced as the little red light at the top of the thing went dead. "Thanks for doing that."

"You don't know what I said." Ashton smirked. "I could have just revealed your deepest darkest secrets and only french speakers will know."

Luke turned to him, and went white. "But... you didn't. Right?"

"Hmm you'll just have to wait until you post the video and see the reactions to find out." he winked, hopping up. "Now if you don't mind, _mes céréale_ s is going to get soggy."

Luke and Ashton had been roommates for a couple of months now. Ashton had gown up in Marseille, France, and then moved to Australia for the last year of secondary school, when his mum had been transferred for work. That was where he met Luke, along with their friends Michael and Calum. When they all graduated, they had plans to rent an apartment together during uni, however Ashton's mum was transferred again, this time to New York.

The move wasn't as heartbreaking as when he was uprooted from his home in France for seventeen years, however saying goodbye to his three best friends was still pretty bad. Staying behind wasn't an option, because his siblings were still pretty young, and they needed him in their lives. So he had been attending university in New York for the past three years, studying to be a music teacher.

He lost touch with the other three, until one day, as he was browsing through youtube pointlessly, procrastinating his coursework, he stumbled across a youtuber that looked the spitting image of his old friend Luke from Sydney.

As it turns out, it _was_ Luke from Sydney, and Ashton ended up watching all of his videos from start to finish in one sitting. In the very last one, Luke mentioned coming to New York for better career opportunities. Fast forward several days, Ashton and Luke were back in contact, and Ashton had offered to let him stay at his place until he found his own.

Fast forward another few months, and Luke was still in his apartment, ordering Ashton to say things in french to a camera. Not that he minded, really.

 

Later that day, Ashton received yet another phone call from his mother.

" _Bonjour, Maman_." he sighed.

" _Salut, mon chèr, comment était_ —"

" _Maman_ , english _please_. I'm still practising."

" _Je sais je sais je sais_." she mutters under her breath. I know I know I know. "How was your day yesterday? _Comment était ton rendez-vous avec Luke?_ " How was your rendezvous with Luke?

" _Maman_ , it wasn't a _rendezvous_." Ashton was still trying to convince his mother that he and Luke were not dating. She did have great instincts, he did have to give her that, because his feelings for Luke were not completely platonic, but he kept that to himself. "And the movie was fine. It was a little hard to understand, though. They talk so fast."

They continued chatting like this until Ashton was about to hang up, when his mother squawked.

"Oh! _Mon chèri_ wait! I almost forgot why I called."

This was strange, because she never called for any particular reason. She continued talking in her heavy accent. It was thicker than Ashton's, although he had tried to tone it down over the years.

"Your... ah... _ami_... friend! That's the word, your _friend_ Michael from Australia, his mother, lovely woman, she called me. She says... um... that he and his friend Calum are coming to visit you?"

Ashton wasn't sure if he had heard right. Or maybe his mother had said something wrong. He hadn't heard any news of this. Not that it wouldn't be great. Just, without warning?

"Are you sure? I didn't hear that."

Silence on the other end. And then "Oh dear. Maybe it was supposed to be a surprise. Forget I said it, _au revoir, mon gar._ Kiss kiss."

And with that she hung up. Ashton locked his phone and huffed out a sigh.

" _Formidable_." Wonderful.

When he spun around on his heels, Luke was leaning at the doorway, watching him with an amused smile.

" _Ne me regardes pas comme ça_." he grumbled. " _Qu’est-ce que tu veux?_ " Don't look at me like that. What do you want?"

"I can't understand you. But I really have a thing for listening to you speak in french." he winked, jokingly.

Although he was in a relatively bad mood, the part of his heart that wanted to be more than just friends with Luke fluttered. It was the soft expression he wore, probably. He was such a lovely person, really. That was why he had so many subscribers. He was impossible not to like.

"My mother just told me that Mike and Calum are coming to visit. Would you happen to know anything about this?" he sauntered over to the Australian, who was now grinning sheepishly at him.

"Oops. It was supposed to be a surprise."

" _Merde_!" Shit! "Why didn't you tell me? When are they coming?"

"Well, I'm picking them up from the airport on Monday."

It was Saturday.

" _Arrête! Putain de bordel de merde de saloperie, arrête!_ " he paced the room, yelling random, frantic swears. "Monday?! Look at this place, it's a mess, why didn't you tell me sooner? They're going to think we're slobs—"

Luke chuckled. He fucking laughed.

" _Arrêter de rire. J’suis sérieux!_ " he whined. Stop laughing, I'm serious!

"Sorry, watching you swear in french is really funny." Luke giggled a little. Again with the french thing. Everything he did in the language was amusing in Luke's eyes.

"You're cute when you're angry."

Ashton's heart began to pound as though Luke had just confessed his love to him or something. _Cute_. He almost forgot about the current situation.

" _Vous êtes, aussi. Toujours_." he said in a softer tone. You are too. Always.

"What?" Luke quirked a brow. _Merde_.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter. Will they be staying here?"

"Yeah, I guess. If that's okay with you. It won't be temporary, I promise."

Ashton sighed. He _was_  looking forward to seeing his old friends again, and he knew that Luke was probably ecstatic about it too. He couldn't really say no to that face.

"Of course it's alright." he said, and braced himself as Luke raced forward to wrap his arms around the shorter boy in gratitude.

"...If you sleep on the floor."

 

**_________________________________________________________**

 

"Hey Ashton?"

"You're not getting out of cleaning, asshole."

Luke grumbled and continued picking pillows up off the floor.

"But yes?"

Luke grinned at him, because he knew Ashton could never stay mad at him, the minx.

"I wanna show you something later, okay?"

"Why later?"

"Because we're _cleaning, asshole_." Luke mimicked, even imitating his accent. "And it has to be night time."

"Here, help me change the sheets in your room." Ashton called, making his way into Luke's room, which was only really tidy on the side where he shot his videos. He had a habit of just shoving everything from the view of the camera.

"So is that a yes?"

"Alright. But only after the house is clean."

He played the stern role, because _someone_  had to do it, however he was quite curious to know what Luke had to show him. And so they spent the rest of the day tidying. It wasn't as though it was too messy around, but Ashton's mother had always taught him hospitality. Ann Marie was a naturally loud woman, and wasn't afraid to shout obscenities when her son was lazy around the house. He knew it was all out of affection though.

"Now, get the vacuum out, will you?"

 

**___________________________________________________________**

 

Luke went into town after they finished cleaning. He usually brought his video camera with him for vlogs when he was shopping, and Ashton took the opportunity to catch up on TV.

His favourite show at the moment was _Plus belle la vie_. He wasn't _that_ into soap operas, but it was one of the only shows in french that aired on american television. At first, it was only out of boredom, but after a few episodes, he had become absorbed into the lives of the wealthy, along with the not-so-wealthy. It also reminded him a lot of home. He remembered his mother watching it when he was a child, and he would often join her out of curiosity.

Luke arrived home at around half ten, and by then, Ashton had already binge-watched several episodes.

"Ash are you watching a soap opera?" he said incredulously, hanging his coat up in the hallway.

" _Chut_!" he hissed, trying to listen to listen to the television. It was the climax of the episode. "This is a very tense scene."

Luke giggle quietly and sat down beside him, squinting at the tv.

"What's it about?"

" _Luke, chut_." Luke, hush.

"Oops, sorry." he fiddled with the hem of his jeans for a few seconds. "Who's that?"

"That's Rachel Lévy. She's one of the main characters."

"Oh."

Luke sighed, settling himself further into the couch, resting his head on Ashton's shoulder. He couldn't really concentrate on the episode after that. When it ended, Luke hopped up, grabbing Ashton by the hand and pulling him to his feet.

"C'mon, I need to show you that thing now."

Ashton complied, mostly because Luke was _holding his hand_. He grabbed his keys from the counter and led Ashton into the hallway, shutting the apartment door behind them.

"Where are we going?" he whined, still letting Luke lead him along.

"You'll see in a moment." Luke whined back, leading him up the stairs. They climbed for a few flights until there were no more stairs to climb.

"What now?"

Luke wiggled his eyebrows and gestured towards the fire escape.

Oh no.

" _Oh, Dieu_. The roof?" he squeaked, and Luke giggled.

"Relax, it's safe. I was up here earlier." he smiled, giving a reassuring squeeze to Ashton's hand. Only then, did he realise that he was still holding it, even though they had stopped walking. Shivers ran down his spine.

"Now c'mon." Luke let go and began climbing the short ladder to the emergency exit. Ashton followed, legs feeling a little like jelly. In all his years living here, he had never been up here. He didn't know if anyone was supposed to _be_  here.

His mind changed though, when they exited out onto the top of the building, and he took in the view of the night sky. Ashton was speechless.

The open sky was so beautiful and so full of stars, that almost seemed too close. They twinkled and shone in a way he had never seen them before. Even though it was quite brisk out, he almost didn't mind.

" _C'est beau_." he whispered under his breath. It's beautiful. Luke was grinning at him like a maniac.

"I know right? Just wait."

At that moment, as if on queue, a bright like streaked across the sky, and then disappeared. Shooting stars.

"Luke this is amazing. How did you know they were going to happen tonight?"

"It was on the news." he scoffed. "The _english_ news." Ashton refused to watch any news station except for  _France 2_ 4\. It was something he was quite picky about. He liked to _understand_  his current affairs.

"Wanna sit?" Ashton turned to see Luke walking over to a spread out blanket on the concrete ground. The bastard had prepared this.

" _Connard_." he laughed, shaking his head in belief. Motherfucker.

"What?" Luke cocked his head, as Ashton sat down beside him on the blanket.

"It's nothing. Are you gonna vlog?"

"It's like you know me too well." Luke grinned, pulling a small video camera from his hoodie pocket. "You don't mind do you?"

Ashton made a 'go ahead' gesture, and the Australian boy flipped it open.

"Hey guys, it's like, eleven pm or something now, and we're..." he aimed the camera towards the sky, "here on the roof, watching the shooting stars, which are pretty cool." he then aimed it right into Ashton's face, causing him to giggle and push it away. "I'm here with Ashton- Ash what's french for 'star'?

" _Étoile_." he answered, still grinning. Luke looked so pretty right now, with the moonlight illuminating his face. His hair was flattened down, fatigued from a long day of being quiffed. He was sweet and quiet, despite the bubbly persona he played on camera.

"I-twile." Luke mimicked, not quite getting the pronunciation right. "I think it sounds better when you say it."

"Soften your 't's a little bit." Ashton prompted. " _Étoile_."

"E-thwile?"

Ashton snorted. He supposed french to Luke was like english to him. (Why did they need so many different versions of 'there'?)

"Close enough." he ruffled the boy's hair, amused.

"Well guys, that's pretty much it. We're gonna go now, so don't forget to like and subscribe. Comment if you wanna see more of my _dashing_  french roommate. Byeee." and with that he shut the camera.

Dashing.

"Do you think that was alright?" Luke bit his lip. "I'll edit it tonight, but was that okay?"

"That was great." he said dreamily, lying back onto the blanket to watch more of the stars dance across the sky and then die out. " _Formidable_."

Luke did so too, and they lay like that for a while, talking about nothing and everything. They both grew very drowsy, and Luke spent a little while asking Ashton what things were in french.

"What's... flower?"

" _Fleur_."

"Okay, what is... space?"

" _L’éspace_."

"What was the word for stars again?"

" _Les étoiles._ " he glanced over to the slightly younger boy, who was staring up at the sky. His eyes were so full of wonder, and Ashton couldn't help but feel himself fall a little bit in love with him.

" _T’es beau comme les étoiles_." You're beautiful like the stars. He hadn't meant to say it, however it dawned on him that Luke couldn't understand him anyway.

"What does that mean?" Luke lolled his head to face Ashton.

They were lying very close to each other, and it would be easy to shuffle over and press his lips to Luke's. But it wasn't as easy as that, because Luke had been on quite a few dates in the time since they had been reunited, all of which, had been with girls.

It reminded him a little of when Ashton first realised that he had developed feelings for his best friend. They were lying in a position quite like this on Luke's bed, and Ashton was suddenly overcome with the urge to kiss him. Of course he didn't. He was mostly too freaked out by his feelings to do anything, and went home shortly after that.

It seemed as though Luke hadn't noticed, though. On both occasions, including this one, he hadn't back away, or made any indication that he was uncomfortable. In fact, right now he was just staring at Ashton, waiting for an answer and not breaking the eye contact. For a split second, Ashton could have sworn he'd seen Luke's eyes flick down to his lips, and that confused him even more.

Perhaps, Luke wanted to kiss him too. But that was absurd. He sat up, breaking the trance.

"It means the stars are very beautiful. We should go back inside though, it's getting cold out." He stood, and Luke sighed.

"Yeah, you're right. I gotta edit this and everything."

On the way back inside, Ashton shivered, and Luke draped an arm around his shoulders to keep him warm.

 

**__________________________________________________________________**

 

The first thing Ashton did the next morning was check his phone.

 

 **De: Lukey** _(02:43 am)_

_Videos up! youre probably asleep, so watch it when you wake up x_

 

He immediately went to Luke's channel (hemmo1996) and clicked on the most recent video. He sat through around 8 minutes of it, and cringed when it got to the part of him talking. His liked the clip of them on the roof the best. It was like someone had captured a really intimate moment that he wanted to remember for the rest of his life.

Afterwards he dared to scroll through the comments, and to his surprise, most of them weren't even negetive.

 

_Your roommate Ashton is so cute! I want more of him!_  


_ luke whats with ur hair in that last part wheres ya quiff at?! _

_ I already ship it omg _

_ did u guys see the way the french boy was looking at luke? can someone say heart eyes!! _

_ lashton omfg _

_ Luke I want to ride you so hard _

 

He exited the page after that, because until then he hadn't realised how much competition he had. Not that he was even it the game. He was like 87% sure that Luke only dated girls.

 

**_________________________________________________________________**

 

"Yes, _maman_ , I know I'm on the internet."

" _Mon petit chèri_ , you are famous!"

"No I'm not. It was one video."

" _Ton ami est vraiment attirant_." Your friend is really attractive.

" _Maman_!" Ashton squawked, not believing his ears.

"It was a joke." Ann Marie insisted, but they both knew that it wasn't.

At that moment, Luke emerged from his bedroom, looking like a cat who got the cream. Ashton didn't fail to notice that he was only wearing boxers.

"Gotta go, _maman, au revoir_!" he said quickly, hanging up before she got another suggestive word it. He knew he was going to pay for that later.

" _Tu regardes trés heureux._ " he said, smirking at Luke. Only when Luke replied with an "...uh.... _oui_?", did he remember that no, Luke still could not speak french.

"I said you look really happy." he said, rolling his eyes and making his way to the kettle. He needed tea.

"Don't roll your eyes at me, mister grumpy pants. And I'm happy because my subscribers really liked you."

"Where are the teabags? And of course they liked me I'm flawless."

Luke cackled. It was too early for cackling, in Ashton's opinion.

"The box should be behind the vegemite."

"Since when do we keep them in the box? Where did the little teabag jar go?"

"We have never kept them in the jar!" Luke protested. Ashton continued rummaging around in the press, until he pulled a box out from the back.

"Aha! _T'es un menteur, Luke Hemming_ s." You are a liar, Luke Hemmings. "They were _not_  behind the vegemite!" he spun around to see Luke holding up his video camera.

"Are you recording me?"

Luke smiled sheepishly, but the camera didn't falter.

"Yeah, sorry. I promised my subs I'd record more of my day. And you're a big part of my day, Ashy. Also I don't know why you keep saying things in french when you know I can't understand you."

Ashton felt his cheeks going a little red, because was the whole world gonna see him? He wasn't even wearing a shirt.

"I thought you like it when I speak french." he deadpanned, resting his chin on his hand, leaning over the island.

This time it was Luke's turn to go a little red.

"Well, I do, I just— you keep trying to carry out one-sided french conversations!"

Ashton frowned. It was a bad habit of his, but he couldn't help but take a little but of offence.

"Fine, well if you don't like it, I'm never going to speak my _native language_  ever again. In fact, I'm just gonna go round saying things like 'shahk in the wateh' and 'g'day mate' all the time. You will never hear another french word from me, ever." he placed the back of his hand to his forehead and swooned dramatically.

"Nooo." Luke pouted, setting the camera onto the counter and running over to wrap his arms around him. "I didn't mean it, please don't ever do that accent again. It was terrible."

"What, you don't find it sexy when I say 'g'day mate'?" Ashton giggled, setting Luke off as well.

"As sexy as that is, I like your accent better." he grinned, and there was something in his eye that Ashton couldn't make out. He also tried to ignore that their bare chests were touching.

" _Le tien est plus belle_." he said. Yours is more beautiful.

"See there you go again! How am I supposed to reply to that? There's only so many times I can use 'baguette eiffel tower'!"

Luke retracted from Ashton and walked over to the camera, aiming it at his face.

"Well there's your insight into my relationship with Ashton. He's a douchbag— hey!" he cried as Ashton flung a teabag at his face.

"There's your douchebag!" he called, and Luke laughed, switching the camera off.

"You're not putting all of that in, right?" Ashton said, now aware of what he had said in front of the camera.

' _Yours is more beautiful'? What was he thinking_? If Luke uploaded that, people would translate it and Luke would find out.

"You're just gonna have to wait and find out." Luke wiggled his eyebrows and walked to his room.

Ashton ran his hands through his hair.

" _Merde_."

 

**________________________________________________________________**

 

They arrived at the airport at 11 am to wait for the flight to land, which was way to early to be dressed, in Ashton's opinion. They had been standing in the terminal for about twenty minutes now, because there was a delay with the landing. Ashton was standing with his chin resting on Luke's shoulder, too sleepy to worry about personal standards.

"What time does the plane... uh... flied in at?" he muttered, not speaking loudly because his mouth was right next to Luke's ear anyway.

Luke chuckled and poked his cheek.

"It's fly."

"What?"

"It's 'what time does the plane _fly_  in at'. Flied doesn't make any sense."

"I don't care. _Vive la révolution_."

Just then, Luke shifted and turned around. Ashton did so too, and his eyes landed on a teenage girl, who had obviously just tapped Luke on the back.

"Excuse me, are you Luke Hemmings?" she said shyly, looking a little mortified.

"Yep!" Luke said, immediately switching from giggly tired Luke to bubbly youtube Luke. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm really sorry to bother you but do you think I could get a photo with you?" the poor girl was extremely red.

"Of course you can! Do you have a phone or something?"

The girl looked a little taken back for a second, before scrambling to get something from her pocket. When she did have it out, she looked a little torn.

"Do you want me to take it?" Ashton offered, holding his hand out for the iPhone.

"Oh! Um... I was hoping to get one with both of you."

Oh. So she knew who Ashton was? This time it was his turn to go a little red.

"Here I'll take a selfie." Luke announced, taking the phone from the girl.

Ashton silently thanked him for saving the awkward moment. They all pulled their biggest smiles for two photos, and the girl said her 'thank you's, before pausing.

"You guys are really cute together." she said, before scurrying off, face crimson.

She thought they were cute? And what about the other comments saying they were a cute couple? Did they really all mean it? He kind of had to agree. They would be the cutest couple.

But the situation could not have been more awkward after that.

" _Oh, Dieu_." Oh, god.

"Oh dew is right." Luke laughed nervously. "She wasn't serious, was she?"

Ashton wanted to slap himself across the face. Of course Luke thought the idea was weird.

"Of course she wasn't. That would be crazy!" he laughed, his face heating up.

At that moment, the sound of automatic doors could be heard opening, and a shriek of " _Luke! Ashton!_ " could be heard throughout the terminal.

They both swivelled around, forgetting the awkwardness of their conversation, to Michael racing towards them. Calum was walking casually behind him, trying to make it look as though he wasn't with the purple-haired boy.

Michael bounded over, kind of like an excited kitten, and flung his arms around the both of them, shoving them together.

"I haven't seen you guys in so long!" he poked Ashton's chest. "Especially you. _Tu m’as manqué_." I've missed you.

It was like music to Ashton's ears. Someone... speaking french to him? Who wasn't his mother?

"Mikey! _Vous parlez français?_ " You speak french?

Michael nodded, a sly grin on his face.

" _Tu n’es pas aussi spécial que tu penses_." You're not as special as you think you are.

" _Je ne pense pas ça_." Ashton frowned. I don't think that. Luke groaned and ran his hands through his hair.

"Oh hell no, not this. Now there's two of them?!"

"At least you didn't have to listen to him on the way over." Calum grinned, finally arriving up to them. "I haven't heard him speak a word of english in a week because he's been 'practising'."

" _Je t’emmerde, Calum_." Michael stuck his tongue out. Fuck you, Calum. Ashton snickered, because of course Michael would learn that. He brought them all into a group hug.

"The fantastic 4 back together again, eh?" Luke grinned.

"Dibs on being The Human Torch!" Michael exclaimed, and Calum leapt back.

"Ah so he speaks!"

" _Pute_." Bitch.

 

**________________________________________________________________**

 

Michael talked for the whole way home, both in english and in french, (which apparently he began learning after Ashton left) with Calum only butting in a few times to correct some facts. ("No you were blonde, then green, _then_ purple.") By the time they reached the apartment, Ashton felt as though he had been caught up on the past three years.

Apparently, Calum had a football scholarship, while Michael was studying to be an elementary school teacher. Ashton couldn't help but laugh at how bad of an influence he would be to children. He would probably just fit right in.

Once they entered the apartment, the first thing Michael said was

"Holy shit why is it so clean it here?"

"You have him whipped, Ashton." Calum, grinned cheekily.

"I am not whipped." Luke huffed. "I chose to clean. It was a joint effort."

"Whipped!" they both sang, venturing deeper into the flat, trying to suss out what was where.

They ordered pizza, because of that one time when Ashton's mum had invited them all over for dinner, and stereotypically, she had prepared _escargot_ , leading to them never trusting Ashton's cooking every again.

Of course, Luke had come to love it, and Ashton never _ever_  made snails. Luke actually liked to help out a lot, and when he didn't cook, he would sit on the counter, chatting to Ashton while he did. It was all very domestic, which hurt his heart a little.

"Isn't pizza french?" Michael said, through a mouthful of pepperoni and cheese. Luke smacked him upside the head.

"It's italian, dumbass. You know what is french though? _Snails_."

Ah. So they did all remember. Ashton couldn't help but laugh he remembered Michael at the dinner table when they were teenagers, looking as though he was about to cry/throw up.

"Hey don't be so mean!" Calum protested. "At least he tried one before he puked all over the floor."

This earned a laugh from everyone, except for Michael, who was now a dark crimson colour.

"That's not fair, I made it to the bathroom! _Ta geule_." he whined. Shut up.

 

**_____________________________________________________________________**

 

That night, due to jetlag, the two rowdy australians requested to to go sleep pretty early. Michael dibsed Luke's room (much to his dismay) and Calum, bless his soul, insisted on sleeping on the couch, because "it was the least he could do." It was good because Ashton didn't really feel like giving his bed up any way. He hadn't been kidding with Luke, though. He really did have to sleep on the floor.

At around 3am, his bedroom door creaked open, waking him from a light sleep.

"Ash?"

Ashton pried his eyelids open and squinted at the figure at the doorway.

" _Qu’est-ce que tu veux?_ " he groaned. _Wait no, english, Irwin_. "What do you want?"

"Sorry I didn't mean to wake you." Luke said turning to leave.

"Wait, it's fine. What do you need?" he said, eyes now shut again.

"Well, uh... the floor is really uncomfortable and Calum snores."

Ashton could understand what he was getting at, and he patted the bed beside him.

"C'mon then." he muttered, and within seconds, Luke had hopped in under the covers.

"Never has a mattress felt so good."

Silence.

"Hey Ashton?"

"Yep?"

"What's french for 'thank you'?"

" _Merci_."

"Oh. Well, _merci_ , Ashton."

" _De rien_ _, Luke_." Your welcome, Luke.

More silence.

"Hey Ashton?"

Ashton's eyes snapped open. Well, he was awake now.

"What?"

"Never mind, it's stupid." Luke said, pulling the covers up over his nose. Ashton poked it.

"C'mon, you've woken me up now and everything. What is it?"

"Could you talk to me in french for a while? It's just really relaxing."

"You really like me talking french, don't you?"

Even in the dark, Ashton was sure that Luke was blushing.

"Sorry. I've always wanted to speak it, but I never got the opportunity. I guess I'm just living vicariously through you. And you have a really nice voice, Ash. Even when you're talking english."

Ashton sighed.

" _Si je te parle en français, je vais probablement parler de toi_." he said quietly. If I talk to you in french, I'll probably talk about you. Surprisingly, Luke didn't ask for a translation, so he continued.

 _"T’as un trés beau sourire._ " You have a beautiful smile.

He continued talking like this for a couple of minutes, reaching a hand out to stroke the boy's blonde locks.

" _Tu sais, t'es comme une étoile. Mais t'es plus beau; tu pourrais les surpasser chaque nuit._ " You know, you are like a star. But you are more beautiful; you could surpass them every night.

" _Tu sais que je l’aime, Luke_." You know that I love you, Luke.

He listened for a response, but all he could hear was heavy breathing. Sure enough, Luke was asleep, curled up in a fetal position. Ashton sighed. It felt good to get it all off his chest, even if the victim was asleep.

He curled up himself and shut his eyes.

" _Je t’aime_."

 

**_________________________________________________________________**

 

"Yes they're fine. Everyone's already awake, _maman_. No. Yep. _Je sais. Je sais_. Calum and Luke are gone into town. Michael is here _lazing around_." He shot daggers to his old friend, who was lounging on the couch in his underwear.

Michael's ears pricked up at the sound of his name.

"Is that your mum? _Bonjour, Madame Irwin_!" he called from the couch.

"Is that him?" Ann Marie squawked in his ear. "Put him on to me!"

Michael, as if knowing what her request would be, had already started walking over to the counter. He took the phone from Ashton and put it to his ear. Ashton strained to listen to what his mother was saying on the other end, but Michael kept moving away from earshot, grinning at him slyly. Ashton was forced to listen to only one side of the conversation.

" _C’était d’accord_." It was fine.

" _Juste fatigué_." Just tired. He listened for a couple of minutes, before letting out a large laugh.

" _Hilarant_!" he cried, grinning at Ashton.

"What? What is she saying about me?" he leaned over the counter, frustration building up inside of him. Michael held the phone away from his ear for a second.

"Ashton, sweetie, the adults are talking." he smirked, then turned back to the phone.

" _Connard_." he muttered to himself. Motherfucker.

After a few minutes of taunting conversation between Michael and his mother, he eventually hung up, handing the phone back to Ashton.

"Kiss-ass." he hissed, taking the phone from him. "What do you want for lunch."

"You are _so_  European." Michael laughed. "Can I have vegemite on toast please?"

A couple of minutes later, they both sat at the island counter, both eating toast. Except Ashton was eating marmalade on his, not that disgusting vegemite stuff. He had no idea how anyone could possibly ingest it.

" _Alors_ ," Michael said through a mouth full of chewed up bread. " _Qu’est-ce que c’est tous ça la nuit dernière, avec Luke?_ " So, what was all that last night, with Luke?

" _Qu’est-ce que tu parles de?_ " What are you talking about?

" _Es-tu... comme... avec Luke?_ " Are you....like....with luke?

Ashton looked around, a little confusedly.

" _Pas au moment, non._ " Not at the moment, no.

Michael scoffed.

"That's not what I meant, _pute. Je veux dire... Aimes-tu Luke_?" I mean... do you love Luke?"

The lump of toast that Ashton had been very keen on swallowing was now caught in his throat, and he nearly choked. It took him a minute or two to recover from his coughing fit.

"What? Why would you think that?"

" _J’ai entendu ce que tu as dit. Á Luke_." I heard what you said. To Luke. "Last night when I got up to pee. You were saying some really gay shit about the stars or something. And then you said you loved him. Plus I looked in this morning and he was in your bed."

“ _Mikey tu peux pas dire à personne. Je suis sérieux. Personne d’autre peux savoir._ " Mikey you can’t tell anyone. I’m serious. Nobody else can know.

"Does Luke know?"

Ashton didn't answer, taking a sip of his tea instead.

"He's gonna find out sooner or later. And now that you're both on camera and stuff, I'd wanna be the one to tell him, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, but that's completely impractical because he doesn't like _me_ , which would just make things weird so why would I even do that?"

Michael huffed a frustrated sigh.

"Fine. _Je vais pas dire à personne_." I won't tell anyone

 

**___________________________________________________________________**

 

"Ashton," Luke whined, "do the best friends tag with me."

"Luke no one would even wanna see that." he replied, because honestly it had been three days since Michael and Calum had arrived, and not once had he been able to watch his soaps.

The two were out in town together now, finally giving him a window of opportunity. Luke had been sleeping in his bed ever since, although there hadn't been any more love confessions yet.

" _Au contraire,_ my friend, they're all obsessed with you. They all think you're really hot." Luke grinned, and this made Ashton blush a little.

"How do you know _I_  want to do it?"

"Because you love being the centre of attention. And you'll do it for me because I'm your bestest friend who needs more views."

"Fine but you owe me." he grumbled, and 30 minutes later, he found himself fully dressed and sitting on Luke's bed in front of the camera.

"Wassup guys, I'm here with my roommate Ashton, and yesterday I was tagged in the Best Friend Tag, so that's what we're gonna do now!" Luke chirped.

Ashton didn't really know what to do or say, so he just kind of nodded along with what he was saying.

"Okay question one: how and when did you meet?" he read out, and Ashton jumped in at that one.

"It was when I transferred from France to his school—"

"—oh yeah and you couldn't speak like, any english, oh god—"

"—That was like, three/four years ago wasn't it?"

"Yeah I think it was. And yeah, he sat beside me in homeroom and I told him I'd help him if he couldn't understand anything."

"And I was like 'who is this complete nerd and why is his fringe so long?'." Ashton grinning cheekily at him. It was nice bringing up the old memories.

"Okay question two: what's your favorite memory together?"

They both thought for a couple of seconds before Luke spoke up again.

"I know I'm gonna sound like a huge sap, but I really like the one that I vlogged the other night, remember on the roof?"

Ashton couldn't help but smile and nod, because that was his favourite too. It was romantic without actually being romantic.

"Yeah same."

"Really?"

"Yeah that was really nice."

They kinda both just stared at each other for a few moments, before Luke snapped out of it and read out the next question.

"Righteo, question three, describe each other in one word."

"Don't say it."

"Say what? What do you think I'm gonna say?"

"Don't say 'French'."

"But you _are_  French!"

"How would you like if I called you 'Australian' all the time and made you speak to me in native aborigine?"

"Okay fine! You're...chirpy"

"Chirpy?"

"Yeah, like a lil fluffy bird."

Ashton pinched the bridge of his nose and laughed. "Oh _god_  Luke. Okay, you are... tall. You're very tall." he turned to the camera. "I don't know if you guys know this but Luke is like 9 foot 6 or something."

"I am not 9 foot 6 I'm like two inches taller than you Ash. _Anyway_ , next question, four: favourite inside joke?"

"There was that one with the fruit salad remember?" Ashton said immediately. That one stuck out like a sore thumb. It took Luke a second to catch on before his face lit up.

"Oh my god _yeah_! I can't believe you remember that!" he turned to the camera. "Okay so basically, when we were in school, our friend Michael started going out with this girl, and he was like _obsessed_  with her and he was like blowing us off too much so..." he couldn't finish his sentence because now he was laughing too hard.

"We started this thing where we would just talk about fruit salad all the time in front of him, and then start pissing ourselves laughing like it was some inside joke." Ashton finished for him through laughter. "Then he like, flipped his shit because no one would explain to him what it meant."

They continued like that for another couple of questions, either always bickering like an old married couple, or connecting like some freaky twins.

"Question ten: what is something that annoys you about the other person? You know what, I'm gonna be the nice guy and say nothing annoys me about Ash. He's a- he's a pretty swell guy."

Ashton couldn't help but blush. There must be _something_  about him that annoyed Luke.

"But what about the way I clip my toenails everywhere?"

"We all do that."

"And I'm like, really bossy."

"Meh, doesn't bother me."

"I talk in french all the time even though I know you can't understand me."

"I actually like that." he grinned sheepishly.

Ashton huffed. Why did Luke have to be like this? Always so kind and sweet and _nice_. It made it pretty hard for Ashton not to be in love with him.

"I'm not answering 'til you say something, Luke." he crossed his arms in stubbornness.

"Fine... uh... you don't like vegemite."

Ashton gagged. "That stuff is hell in a jar. Australians are so weird."

Luke rolled his eyes. "Okay now do me."

"You want me to _do you_?" he smirked.

It took Luke a few seconds to catch onto the innuendo, and then he blushed.

"You know what I mean." he said sulkily, and Ashton couldn't help but giggle st his reaction.

"Something that annoys me about Luke is... he's always filming me without telling me first. Like I could turn around suddenly its like _bam_  camera in my face. But that's the only thing."

"I'm _documenting_!" Luke protested. "It's not in a creepy way, I'm just making memories."

"You don't need _memories_  of me making tea in the morning!" Ashton insisted, although truth be told, it was a little flattering.

Luke pouted, then turning to the camera.

"Well, that's it. Ashton is being mean to me now so we're gonna go. Oh, but first, I tag..." and then he named a few other usernames Ashton didn't know "...but yeah I suck at ending videos, don't forget to like and subscribe, byeee." and with that, he stood up to close the camera.

"That was fun." Ashton grinned. "You proved me wrong, Huke Lemmings. But do you really not find anything about me annoying?"

"No not really." Luke said, sitting back down on the bed. "That's kinda why you're my best friend."

They were both quiet for a couple of moments, and then

"Ash can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, fire away."

"What does 'ja tem' mean?"

Ashton wasn't really sure if that was supposed to be french or something. And then he froze. Could he mean... _je t’aime_? He gulped.

"Why?"

Luke was looking anywhere but at him right now, and Ashton wanted the ground to open up and swallow him, because he knew where this was going. Maybe Luke had been awake after all.

"...Because you said it to me. I think. I- I'm pretty sure you did."

Why was Luke nervous? It was Ashton who should be mortified right now. Should he just come clean?"

"Ash, it means 'I love you' doesn't it?" he asked, picking at the wick of his thumbnail.

Ashton's hands were shaking and he didn't think he could manage a verbal response, so he just nodded. He heard Luke's breath hitch, and he more than expected a slap or _something_.

"Do you... do you _love me?_  Like... in a romantic way?"

Now would be the ultimate time to backtrack and say it was completely platonic, but he didn't think his heart could hold up anymore. He couldn't take it. It's now or never, Irwin.

"Yes." he said quietly, staring down at his lap. "I do."

"Oh."

Oh?

Ashton stood up, because it was clear what road this conversation was going down.

"I should go." he said quietly, walking towards the door. He heard feet shuffling behind him, and then a large hand grabbing his arm.

As he spun around, a pair of lips crashed into his, backing him up against the door. Ashton broke away, to catch a breath, but mostly to process what was happening.

"I don't want you to go." Luke muttered, and Ashton searched his eyes for any traces of uncertainty. There were none. " _Je t’aime_ , too, Ashton."

Luke... Luke loved him?"

Ashton wasted no time in leaning up again, and locking his lips with Luke's, this time not feeling like a complete deer in the headlights. His heart was racing, and his arms were draped around Luke's neck, pulling him in closer. He never wanted it to end. When they broke apart, they kind of just stared at each other for a couple of seconds.

"Wow. That was..." Luke trailed off.

" _Incroyable_." Ashton breathed out. Incredible.

"Yeah, what you said. Probably." Luke laughed. Then, "I've been waiting to do that since year 12."

"Really?"

"Yep. I thought you were going to kiss me one time. But then you didn't and I realised that I kind of wanted you too." he chuckled. He was gazing into Ashton's eyes, playing with his hair, twirling it around his fingers absentmindedly.

"I wanted to aswell." Ashton smiled, because this was all so dumb. It would have been a lot harder to leave if he had, though.

"Hey remember when you let me sleep in your bed?"

"Mhm?"

"You said something about stars didn't you? What did it mean?"

Ashton thought back to what he had said. It was a piece of poetry that he had read a while ago, and it kind of just stuck with him.

" _Tu sais, t'es comme une étoile. Mais t'es plus beau; tu pourrais les surpasser chaque nuit._ You know, you are like a star. But you are more beautiful; you could surpass them every night."

Luke stared at him incredulously.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Oh my god I love you so much."

And then they were kissing again.

 

**__________________________________________________________________**

 

Calum and Michael were absolutely disgusted when they returned to see the two lazily making out on the couch.

"Oh god, you two are _brut_." Michael squealed. Gross.

" _Je ne soucie pas_." Ashton sang, only breaking apart from Luke's lips for a few seconds. I don't care.

"Keep it in your pants, guys." Calum called, smirking. "You have guests, remember?"

"I'll kick you out." Ashton retaliated, giving up and sitting up on the couch, making Luke groan in frustration.

"Oh he resurfaces!" Michael cheered, earning a pillow to the face. "And it doesn't matter, we're getting our own place anyway."

"Oh thank _god_." Luke threw his head back. "I am so sick of you guys."

The pillow was thrown back at Luke.

"It's near here but classier because we wouldn't wanna live in this shithole." Michael said smugly.

"Do you want your stuff in a plastic bag on the pavement?" Ashton joked. "Because I could open a window right now."

"You guys are gonna visit right?" Luke said, and Ashton could tell that he was a little concerned, bless him.

"Christ, Hemmings, we're not even gone yet and you already miss us?" Calum laughed.

"Why don't you just come with me to uni too?" Michael mocked.

"Hey, leave my _boyfriend_  alone!" Ashton said smugly, purely because he wanted to use the word.

"Oh get me a bucket." Michael cried, and Calum proceeded to make retching noises, but Ashton could see that they were secretly proud of them.

 

Later that day, when Ashton went to check the video Luke had uploaded, he found the description quite amusing.

_ Hey guys, I know this is the 'Best Friends Tag', but I think we might have to rename it the 'Boyfriend Tag'. Oops. Xx_

Yeah, Luke's bed wasn't going to be in use for a while.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> ~Glossary~
> 
> mes céréales: my cereal
> 
> Bonjour, Maman: hello, mother
> 
> Salut, mon chèri: hi, my darling
> 
> Mon petit chèri: my little darling
> 
> Mon gar: my boy
> 
> Oh, Dieu: oh, god
> 
> Chut: shush/hush
> 
> au revoir: goodbye
> 
> Arrête! Putain de bordel de merde de saloperie, arrête!: this is just an arrangement of swears, but the closest I can translate it to is 'stop fucking hell shit shit'
> 
> Merde: shit
> 
> Connard: motherfucker
> 
> Formidable: wonderful
> 
> Vive la révolution: (kind of obvious but) long live the revolution
> 
> Je t’aime: I love you
> 
> pute: bitch
> 
> Incroyable: incredible
> 
> Ta geule: shut up
> 
> Je sais: I know


End file.
